Reptile & Amphibian Forums

his is long, please bare with me. Thank you for reading and thank you for any advice.

I recently visited a local fish store, which advertised that they also had reptiles. They don't have that many, but a majority are Uros. They claim they are Mali's, but I'm afraid they are wild caught and these people really don't know much about them. I don't know how to tell species. If I get the chance I will take pictures so I'll know for sure, and that you can see the horrible shape these guys are in. The first two enclosures contained the most emaciated Uros that I have ever seen.

I was told that they feed them a frozen vegitable mix and leafy greens. They wouldn't specify what leafy greens and what I saw of the frozen vegitables were peas and corn that looked dehydrated. There is no uv light but the manager says that they give them calcium supplement. There is no thermometer in the enclosure so I don't know the ambiant temp. and no temp gun to take the basking spot temp. There is no light put on them of any kind. The only light is the sunlight coming through the closed blinds as they are next to a window.

The first enclosure might be a 20 or 20L with a single Uro that is all skin and bones not moving. They have a clamp lamp with what I think is a 75 watt bulb and it's maybe 5 inches from the rock. I was told that this lizard had been doing fine, but he lost his female and has declined since then. If the female had died, it could be desease or parisites right?

Second enclosure might be a 20T with three small Uros in it. This one has a clamp light with a 100 watt ceramic heater nearly a foot from the basking spot. These three are emaciated as well and huddle on the rocks directly below the lamp. As I said I'm afraid that they are wild caught and wern't acclimated at all. They wern't kept seperated in containment I'm sure, so they could be diseased or have parasites. It could just be that they are too stressed.

I'm afraid it is too late for these guys, but what would you try for these guys? Does any one know of a rehabilitation page or info for Uros like this one we have for Horned Lizards?
www.phrynosoma.com/Rehab/rehabilitation.htm

Thank you for replies

check out the post just a few inches below about the "rescue" Uro with the broken leg. to quickly summarize:

-supporting the store and spending money only encourages them to keep doing the same kind of business, with garbage animals.

-captive bred Uros are available and affordable, why not support those that support you? try looking at the sites of the folks that sponsor this very forum.

-buying those struggling animals is asking for heartache and dead animals.

check out this link:
.
the case against rescues...

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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

I know about rescues. I rescued a Horned Lizard before. It took a lot of work but worth the effort. I'm not trying to rescue these guys. They want $80 for emaciated lizards that are surely to die if not taken care of immediatly.

No, I'm not planning on buying these. Instead, I want to get all the proper information on how to acclimate these lizards and treat them in the shape they are in. I will then present this to the manager I have been talking to. I will offer to come in to care for the guys if they buy the supplies they need. It is in the best intrest of the lizards, and of the buisness for them to be treated and helped to recover. If they die the store loses more money than they would properly caring for them. I'm afraid that it is already too late for them, but I can't give up trying to help them.

How do you treat lizards for internal parasites?

>>How do you treat lizards for internal parasites?

Depends on what they've got. Stool sample to a vet will tell you that. I normally dose mine with an ivermectin and panacur (safeguard) regimine as standard (4-5 week duration) and see how they do. If a sample turns up anything then I work off that. If they're real ill and have developed any respiratory condition then they may also need some sort of anti-biotic.

Either way, if you don't have this stuff on hand it has to come from a vet. If you're able to obtain it without an exam/prescription then you can at least get dosage information off anapsid.org (I think). Some meds are oral, soem are injected. If these guys are dehydrated then you're looking at doing fluid injections. If you're force-feeding a bunch then a feeding tube is a REAL good idea (and instructionson how to use it).

All around, be prepared to learn a lot, invest a lot of time and it's going to cost some bucks too.
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uromastyx geyri (Saharan/Nigerian), hardwickii (Indian),
macfadyeni (Somalian), ocellata (Sudanese), ornata (Ornate), benti pseudophilbyi

Thanks. I'm afraid that they won't care to try helping these lizards of theirs. I hate them. Sigh. I just can't stand to see them like that from poor care.

Has anyone tried Electrodyze or similar product for dehydration on a Uro? Our Horned Lizards will drink from an eye dropper and they drink this stuff.

Also, what about Fluckers Repta-Aid
www.flukerfarms.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=38?
We've had good luck with this on Hl's as well for calories.

Nope. All my stuff comes from the vet. Uros don't really "drink" much from you. They are highly resistive to opening and will clench their jaw. If they're real upset they won't swallow and very sick animals can't swallow. Opening their mouths is generally a challenge (until you know the secrets), the exceptions I've had being hardwickii (that readily hiss) and ornate (which are gullible).

I highly recommend feeding needles like this:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=5766&Ntt=feeding tubes&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1

Syringes are here:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=5760&Ntt=feeding tubes&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1

I use the 1cc versions. If you can't obtain them drop me an e-mail and I'll mail you some. If you have problems opening their mouths, I've been able to show my vet some good tricks
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uromastyx geyri (Saharan/Nigerian), hardwickii (Indian),
macfadyeni (Somalian), ocellata (Sudanese), ornata (Ornate), benti pseudophilbyi

I think it's worth re-emphasizing that many of the things mentioned above can be deadly if done incorrectly.
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Lindsay Pike
Urotopia Uromastyx

Yes, I've never been in the school of thought of forcing them to open their mouths. I've read that you can break their jaws if you try to hard. As for using a tube, I'm a bit scared to try after reading the liklihood of getting the formula in their lungs. I went to this store yesterday and one Uro was gone. They said they sold it, and if they did, they are wrong for it. These guys are so wasted that unless the person that got it knows a lot about reptiles it will still surely die on this person. They have 3 very emaciated lizards in their store that they don't care to try saving, but are still trying to sell. I keep talking to the manager/only-employ but he dosn't seem to care at all. I asked when the owner is in and he said sporadicaly so I don't know if I'll be able to talk to him. This manager said that they are getting in 30 Bearded Dragons soon and I'm scared for them now. They will probably be shoved into a 15 T like the uro's are with no Uv light and not enough heat. They sure don't have enough heat on the Uro's tank. I believe that petstores have the ethical responsibility to take care of their animals and I'm sure many people here would share that thought. When I see them in bad conditions I want to do something about it, but my complaints are falling on deaf ears. I wish we had an animal police like they show on the animal channel. What is the next best thing? Does animal control do that type of thing? Thanks

>>Yes, I've never been in the school of thought of forcing them to open their mouths. I've read that you can break their jaws if you try to hard. As for using a tube, I'm a bit scared to try after reading the liklihood of getting the formula in their lungs.

I'll tell you there's a huge difference between getting their mouth open and forcing it. There is patience involved, but if you wait all day the Uro will never sit up and let you do what you intend to.
Using a feeding needle/tube you're not going to get anything into their lungs unless you put it there- the deposit is made into the stomach directly. Putting fluid in their mouth gives them an opportunity to inhale it.

I agree with Lindsay. If you have any doubt, get a vet involved and learn from them.
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uromastyx geyri (Saharan/Nigerian), hardwickii (Indian),
macfadyeni (Somalian), ocellata (Sudanese), ornata (Ornate), benti pseudophilbyi

Thanks for the clarification. I have seen in other posts people saying to pry it open with a dull butter knife if you have to. I guess the warnings I read for people just squirting it into their mouth and throat. They arn't doing anything about them though even with me going and questioning about them ever couple of days.

>>Thanks for the clarification. I have seen in other posts people saying to pry it open with a dull butter knife if you have to.

Yeah, that's bad news. Would you pry your own childs mouth open with a butter knife? The only things going near my animals mouths are my fingernails (untrimmed help), plastic syringes, and the feeding tubes/needles.
From what I've read, juvenile lizards bite force is limited by the strength of the jaw. IOW, you're not going to open it without damage unless the animal permits it, so you need to capitalize on this.
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uromastyx geyri (Saharan/Nigerian), hardwickii (Indian),
macfadyeni (Somalian), ocellata (Sudanese), ornata (Ornate), benti pseudophilbyi